Book Review
‘ 60 years of Agricultural Engineering,’
by Charles Crosby
Well-known agricultural engineer and former Department of Agriculture chief director and senior engineer Charles Crosby has written an informative and readable book detailing his 60 year career in agriculture.
A generous and sincere mentor to many people, it is characteristic of Crosby, an Honorary member of SABI, to have written this book, hoping the account will help up-and-coming agricultural engineers on their career paths. Notably though, the book will also make for a uniquely interesting read for those interested in South African and international agriculture( from the business side of tractors to the technical aspects of every part of agriculture imaginable) and management in South Africa. Agricultural engineering and rural development are both passions of Crosby, and he says he will focus more on rural development in a second volume.
Crosby makes the very valid point that agricultural engineering – even while many people are not familiar with the discipline – is set to play a major role in sub-Saharan Africa. He says:“ Dramatic changes are at this moment taking place throughout sub-Saharan Africa where it is acknowledged that the development of agriculture is of prime economic and social importance.”
Crosby, who has retired to the Strand in the Western Cape, says that his business autobiography is“ an account of 60 years of agricultural engineering in South Africa, 1948-2009. It has been written because few people know what an agricultural engineer is, and what he does.”
It is fascinating to read about Crosby’ s university days, where he attended the University of Pretoria, an Afrikaans university as an“ Engelsman”/ Englishman- and received a lot of support from his classmates in his initial struggles to study in Afrikaans, which he later became fluent in.
Notably, after his retirement at 64 Crosby“ freelanced for another 20 years working with consultants, major research organisations and particularly with many aspects of rural development particularly in connection with rainfall harvesting, irrigation, food security and poverty alleviation.”
It is fascinating to sit with Crosby these days chatting about topics he maintains an active interest in like rainfall harvesting.
There is, of course, some great information in the book about irrigation in South Africa the development of the new Water Law and much more. Crosby met the well-known farming family the Karstens years ago – and he tells us in the book how early on they started exploring techniques such as drip irrigation early on.
Crosby’ s impressive work ethic and intellectual dynamism are inspirational. He says that in fact as he has always had a short attention span, he purposefully developed a skill in studying very broadly and deeply – to learn everything about a subject to make up for his attentiveness sometimes wandering.
He describes his career as extremely varied: ranging from municipal engineering in Cape Town to being a lecturer and manager in agriculture. He lectured at Cedara, worked in private industry for UK and USA based firms and had a long career in government. Crosby was with the Department of Agriculture for 20 years in various managerial positions. He has such a wealth of knowledge to share, which he presents in his 60 year book.
In modest fashion he says:“ I worked with many very wonderful people who taught me much about managing and overcoming the many constraints imposed by the inevitable frustrations that all organisations, big or small, are subject to by the procedures and systems so rife in our Western way of life. In my reminiscences I have tried to show how these people set about achieving this, each in his, or her, own situation.”
There are a lot of excellent tips on management styles. There are some amusing anecdotes and comments. Lots of wisdom – such as the adage“ people are not elephants”. Meaning people do forget – unlike elephants.
It must be noted that in the launch months of SABI magazine some eight years ago, Crosby’ s frequent Skype calls to the editorial team made us both nervous and helped to dispel our nerves! He was incredibly generous with ideas, advice and references to his immense network of contacts – from pasture experts in the Eastern Cape to precision irrigation pundits in Douglas – and shared them with us. We congratulate him on his book and thank Charles Crosby for sharing his knowledge with us!
Reviewed by Carol Posthumus
You can read 60 Years by Charles Crosby free-of-charge at: http:// www. capecfd. co. za / CTC _ 60years. epub, http:// www. capecfd. co. za / CTC _ 60years. mobi.
It is a must-read for students of agricultural engineering and those with an interest in the field of engineering, locally and internationally.
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SABI | AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2016